Category Archives: Residence Hall/Dormitory

Sprinkler system controls dorm fire at University of Illinois (Champaign, IL)

A dorm on the University of Illinois campus caught fire on Sunday night.  Firefighters responded to a report of smoke and flames coming from a room, on the 6th floor of Sherman Hall. The occupant of room 655 directed firefighters to the room with heavy smoke and fire. A sprinkler system in the room helped to control the flames.  Crews worked quickly to put out the fire and evacuate the 13-story north wing of the building. No injuries were reported.  The cause of the fire was electrical.

Sprinklers control fire at college residence hall (Beatrice, NE)

***Blog Editor’s Note – Please let us know what you think of the coverage by the Fremont Tribune, who focused on water damage rather than the lives and property saved by the automatic fire sprinkler system ***

Arson fire in college residence hall controlled by sprinklers (Pueblo, CO)

A Colorado State University-Pueblo student was arrested late Sunday on suspicion of arson for allegedly setting fire to a residence hall on campus. At about 10:30 p.m. on Sunday police were dispatched to Culebra Hall on the CSU-Pueblo campus. When officers arrived they discovered an alarm was activated and sprinklers were going off inside the residence hall.

According to the affidavit, Cunningham said the man created a fireball by lighting a can of body spray and fuel he had on hand.  The fire eventually spread to a futon in the room and the fire activated the sprinkler system.

Fire sprinklers prove worth in college dormitory fire (Monmouth, IL)

A college dormitory which houses 120 students had a fire break out in the middle of the night on September 3. A resident awoke to find smoke in her room and alerted her resident assistant, a fire alarm was pulled, and all of the residents evacuated safely as the fire sprinkler system activated to eliminate the flames. The cause of the fire is still under investigation.

College housing fire put out by fire sprinkler (Philadelphia, PA)

When a fire broke out in an unattended unit in a college housing building, fire sprinklers activated and eliminated the fire. The cause of the fire was a blender set on top of an oven that had been left on. No injuries were reported.

“[We’re] very fortunate to have fire sprinkler systems in all of the College Houses — they did their job,” said Vice President for Public Safety Maureen Rush.

Sprinkler system helped college students evacuate from resident hall fire (Philadelphia, PA)

205 students and 5 RAs of Race Street Hall were evacuated from the building around 1:30 a.m. due to a fire on the sixth floor. It is unclear at this time what caused the fire. Heasley and Subir Sahu, assistant dean of Residential Living, wrote in an email to campus residents, “A fire occurred in Race Street Hall, causing fire sprinkler systems to activate. There were no injuries, and all fire suppression systems operated correctly.”*** Blog Editor’s Note – Please let us know what you think of the coverage by The Triangle and journalist Ainslie Rhoads, who focused on water damage rather than the lives and property saved by the automatic fire sprinkler system. ***